City to assist with funding Kickapoo project

The City of Shawnee is obligated to pay a portion of the Kickapoo Widening Project, which spans from the Kickapoo Spur to MacArthur Street.

Carmen Bourlon

The City of Shawnee is obligated to pay a portion of the Kickapoo Widening Project, which spans from the Kickapoo Spur to MacArthur Street.

The project is being funded partially by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. ODOT is also bidding out the project.

Two bids were received on Nov. 15, and both came in significantly over budget. The original estimate provided by ODOT was $8.9 million.

The low bid was $11.3 million from Haskell-Lemon Construction. Allen Constructing put in a high bid of $12.4 million, according to ODOT officials.

ODOT engineers are currently reviewing the bids, and will recommend a bid to their commission at the ODOT meeting Dec. 3.

ODOT Spokesman Larry Clore has said that ODOT may reach out to the city of Shawnee for additional funds. Clore added that there is a possibility that the initial engineer estimate may have been too low.

Clore declined to discuss where ODOT is in the review process.

Shawnee City Engineer John Krywicki said, at the Monday night city commission meeting, that the city is responsible for the entire water line under Kickapoo street, which was included in both bids.

Additionally the city of Shawnee is contributing more than $480,000 to the project, outside of the water line.

Krywicki explained at the commission meeting that Shawnee will likely end up paying about 22 percent of the overall costs of the project due to the water line, but the number for other costs is capped at less than half a million.

The two combined could end up costing more than $2 million.

“That’s about one dollar for every four dollars put into the contract,” he said.

He added that if the ODOT commission throws out these bids, they will rebid the project, likely next year.